In Another Life
by cmww
Summary: AU. What if Jude had been taken in by the Fosters instead of Callie? The Jacobs siblings were separated but have maintained a relationship throughout the years. What happens when Callie finds her brother after looking for him for five months only to find that he has a new family now?
1. Chapter 1

Callie was what people in social services might call a runner. She was constantly finding ways to escape foster homes, even if it usually only lasted a day or two. Ever since she had ben separated from her little brother, Jude, she hadn't been the easiest kid to control. She was only eight when her mom had died, and the first couple of homes she was in her brother was with her. She was ten when they were separated and that's when she became a problem for the social worker assigned to her case.

Eight years later she was still close with Jude. Whenever either of them moved, the first thing she did was find him. Sometimes it took a few days, one time it had taken a month but she always found him eventually. He would sneak her food and she would help him with his homework. If he had nice foster parents she might even hang out with Jude a few times a week at their house. She always made sure he was well cared for, even if the people who were actually paid to do so couldn't manage.

In the last couple of years the state had lost her. She wasn't sure if it was the constant running from her foster homes that had caused her social worker, Janis, to stop looking for her or if Janis was really so overworked that she simply forgot about Callie. She wouldn't really be surprised either way. Once her file was lost, it would be like she never existed to them.

She was used to bouncing around from house to house. She played soccer at the local high school and spent a few nights at one teammates house, a couple at another's. Sure, sometimes she had to sleep outside and she showered at school but it was better than being beaten by another deadbeat foster father. She had finally saved up enough for a car and if she didn't have anywhere to sleep, she'd just park behind the mall. She had a job at a local smoothie shop and it was enough to buy food when she hungry, most of the time.

Her biggest regret was that she wasn't older. If she were just two years older, she would be eighteen and would have already been done with high school. She'd be able to take care of Jude herself, instead of trying to help out when she could.

The last guy he had been stuck with had been a real prick though. She saw the bruises on Jude's arm and then made him take off his shirt. When she found more of the marks she had called the police herself. She figured that he would get to go somewhere safer but she hadn't been able to figure out where the state had sent him, at least not yet.

It had been five and a half months since she had seen her little brother and she was starting to get really worried. She had checked all of the public schools in San Diego and the surrounding areas. There wasn't a Jude Jacobs registered in any of them. What if the state had moved him upstate? How would she be able to track him down?

She supposed she could check the private and charter schools as well but none of the foster parents she knew would bother trying to get him into one. He didn't exactly have the grades for a scholarship for a private school either. Still it was the best chance she had at the moment.

She was halfway through the list before she called Anchor Beach Charter School.

"Hi," she said, "I was calling about Jude Jacobs."

"Jude Jacobs? Seventh grade?" The voice on the other line asked.

"Yes!" Callie practically screamed into the phone.

"May I ask who is calling? I'm not allowed to give out any information of students."

Callie just clicked the end button. She had found him and that was enough, now all she would need to do was get her hands on a student directory. It wouldn't be too hard. God, she'd be able to see Jude by tonight.

It had taking four hours and a lot of snooping but she had an address. It wasn't far and Callie glanced at her watch and sighed at the time. It was six o'clock, prime dinnertime. Most families didn't like it when she showed up now and any later would be too late for a school night. She wished she had figured out where he was a few hours earlier. She had to go though, she hadn't seen Jude in so long. She had to make sure he was okay.

She second-guessed herself the entire ride over but she never turned around. She pulled up to the house and just stared at it for a minute. It was in a nice neighborhood and even looked well taken care of. That was a plus. Usually if the house was a mess on the outside, the inside would be about the same.

She swallowed as she rang the doorbell. Her heart began to beat fast and she even felt a little shaky. She really hoped that these people would let her see Jude for at least a little while.

A girl, not much younger than her opened the door. "Lexi I told you to get here over an hour ago! Where have you…"

She had stopped midsentence as she realized that Callie was not who she had been waiting for. She looked her up and down and she could tell by the snobby look on the girl's face that she didn't approve of Callie's overall look.

"Uh, who are you?" The girl asked.

"Is Jude here?" Callie's voice came out different than usual. This girl was just so different than other foster kids she had met. Perhaps she was the biological kid.

"Who are you?" She asked again, completely ignoring Callie's question.

"Please, can you just go get Jude?"

The girl looked her over again before screeching, "Moms! Someone is here to see Jude!"

Callie winced at the noise. "You could have just gotten Jude. There was seriously no need to scream."

A blonde woman fully decked out in a police uniform came to the door. She was about to ask Callie a question when Jude came zooming around from behind her and jumped on to Callie, making her take a step back.

"Hey baby," she whispered. "I missed you so much. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner It was just a lot harder to find you than last time."

Callie could feel Jude shaking in her arms and she knew he was crying. Hell, she was crying. God, she couldn't believe how much he had grown since the last time she had seen him. She closed her eyes and maneuvered them so they were both sitting on the porch.

"I thought you were gone forever," Jude cried into her shoulder. "When you never came by I thought that … that you were…"

He couldn't finish but what he had admitted made Callie feel even worse than she already did. She should have looked into other schools sooner. She really was an idiot for not thinking of it before today.

"Jude," She said. "I am so sorry. I have a cell phone now. It's prepaid but I bought minutes so you can call me whenever. Okay? It's going to be okay now."

He was starting to calm down and pulled away from her embrace. "I really thought you were dead."

She pulled him back to her and looked back to the doorway to gage the blonde woman's reaction. She didn't want to push too hard and get banned from seeing Jude but she also wasn't ready to leave him yet.

There were two women on the porch now and they had closed the front door behind them. The girl was gone and they didn't look angry or like they were about to kick her off of their porch. They were looking at Jude with concern, worry even. This made Callie feel better. At least they didn't seem like the hitting type.

Swiping at her face, she squeezed Jude one more time before bringing them both back to a standing position. She still had an arm around his shoulder when she stuck out her other arm to women.

"I'm Callie," she said and both women shook her hand. "I'm uh, Jude's sister."

Both women looked a little shocked but they quickly introduced themselves as well.

"I'm Stef," The cop said, "and this is my partner, Lena."

"We weren't aware that Jude had a sister," Lena said. "Bill never mentioned it and neither did Jude. You know you could have told us, right sweetie?"

Watching him shrug, Callie jumped in with an explanation. "We were separated when we were pretty young. His social worker probably doesn't even know about me. We like to keep in touch though. That would be okay with you, right?"

Even if they said no, that wouldn't stop Callie. But it was always better to ask rather than just assume. It made it seem like they actually had a say.

"Of course," Lena answered. "Are you hungry? We just finished up dinner but we haven't even started the cleanup. Why don't you come in and grab something to eat."

Callie hesitated. It was a Sunday night so she was looking a little worse for wear. At least out on the porch it was dark, with only the overhead light to shine down on her. She hadn't been able to shower since school on Friday so her hair was gathered in a greasy ponytail and her best clothes were dirty so she was wearing an outfit that was slightly too small. It wouldn't exactly make her look like someone they would want hanging around. On the other hand she was really hungry and she wasn't ready to say goodbye to Jude yet.

"Yeah, sure," she agreed.

She followed her brother into the house and was surprised by how homey it was. The girl from before and two boys had obviously been leaning against the door and they were giving the two women sheepish smiles. She noticed that the taller boy's ears had the red tinge of embarrassment. She noticed right away that the younger boy and girl looked alike while the other boy didn't look like either of them. She wondered how they were all related or if they really were foster kids.

"Mariana, Brandon, Jesus this is Callie," Lena gestured toward the girl. "Callie these are my nosy children Brandon, Mariana, and Jesus."

"It's nice to meet you," Callie said.

The girl, Mariana, looked less than impressed. "So, like I asked before who are you?"

"Mariana!" Stef interrupted. "Manners."

The girl just rolled her eyes in response.

"She's my sister," Jude stepped in front of Callie as if to protect her. Callie put a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to reel it in. She could see that he was comfortable here. Still, it was never good to get on anyone's bad side.

All three of the teenagers looked as shocked as their mothers had been. They all exchanged a look but Jesus and Mariana looked the most confused.

"Wait, so they separated you?" Jesus asked. "And why have you never mentioned that you have a sister?"

"Yeah we've been in different homes for a while now," Jude answered. "But we still see each other a lot. At least, we usually do."

Callie saw Stef and Lena giving each other a significant look. That didn't bode well. They didn't seem to like the fact that no one had ever mentioned her to them. None of Jude's past foster parents had ever paid her any attention. Sure, she might be invited in every once in a while to watch television but she doubted they even knew her name. Plus, Stef was a cop. If she started poking around it could mean that she got sent back into the system that had taken her four years to escape. She could get sent away from Jude. She had to remember to be very careful around here.

"Callie was just going to eat some dinner and catch up with Jude. I think it would be a good idea to go and finish your homework upstairs."

They groaned and turned to go upstairs. Mariana was muttering something under her breath about how she had already done her homework and it was clear that they just wanted them out of the way. Callie shook her head at how much of a teenager the other girl was. It was almost like she was one of those girls from the teen movies. She was a total cliché.

"We have lasagna," Lena said, leading them into the kitchen. "I'll warm a piece up for you."

"Thanks," Callie said with a smile.

The silence was starting to get awkward when Stef asked, "So where are you staying Callie? Are you close?"

"No, I live with my foster family about forty five minutes away," the lie slipped easily off her tongue. "It's actually a really good situation or I would have asked to be closer to Jude by now."

Stef nodded. "So, you go to school?"

It was clear that this was just the beginning of the twenty questions that was sure to follow.

"Yes ma'am," she answered. "I'm a sophomore."

"Then you must be what? Fifteen?"

Callie accepted the plate that Lena handed her. "Actually, I'm sixteen."

Jude had come to sit next to her as she dug into her food. She hadn't eaten much this weekend. Between buying a phone and filling up her tank with gas she hadn't had a lot of money left over for food. It was easier during the week when she could eat for free at school. It took her no time to finish and she even scraped the plate so that nothing would be wasted.

"Do you want some more?" Lena asked. To anyone else this might seem like an innocent question but Callie knew better. She was fishing, most likely because Callie hadn't managed to play it cool and eat slowly.

That's why even though she could easily eat three more pieces, she declined, "No thank you. I think I've had enough. Do you need any help with your homework, buddy?"

Jude smiled up at her. "Yeah I have some math stuff that I could use your help with. I'll go grab my bag!"

He was back quickly, pulling out his notebooks and laying them out over the table. Lena placed another large piece of lasagna in front of Callie. "We have plenty, eat all you want."

With that both her and Stef left the two siblings alone.

"They're nice," Jude said. "You should eat. I can tell you're hungry. They won't get mad. They're different than the others. They adopted the twins back when they were little. They don't usually foster kids but Bill got them to take me by saying it was this or a group home."

"What?" Callie interrupted. "Why would he send you there?"

Jude shrugged. "I'm not supposed to be placed with guys for a while and they didn't really have anywhere else. They were going to try and find somewhere else that I could stay permanently, but the other night Stef and Lena offered to adopt me."

"What?" Callie asked, shocked. "Are you serious?"

Jude nodded, with a smile on his face. "Yeah," he said. "I was pretty shocked, too. I never dreamed that they would keep me. They are so different! They actually care about their kids, and they seem to actually like me. Lena helps me study and everything."

"You're happy here?" Callie asked. She couldn't wrap her head around Jude being adopted. In most ways, he was hers. They were all each other had and know he had this whole family. It was weird and even though she was a little hurt by it, she was happy that he would be taken care of. He deserved this more than anything.

"Yeah, I am now that I know you're okay. I was really worried Callie." Jude looked her in the eye as she scooped up another bite into her mouth. "Are you really okay though?"

"Hey, I'm doing alright," she said, seeing that his mood had dramatically dropped since she had arrived. "This has just been a rough weekend for me, okay?"

He offered her a half smile. "Okay, will you help me with division now?"

She smiled back, "Sure thing, baby, sure thing."

Neither of the Jacob's siblings noticed Stef hovering in the doorway.


	2. Chapter 2

"There's something off about Callie," Stef whispered, sitting back down on the couch with Lena.

"Do you think she's dangerous?" Lena asked worriedly.

Stef shook her head. "No, not at all. But she's lying about something. I mean, did you see the way she ate. It's like she hasn't had a decent meal in a while. If she's so happy with her foster parents why wouldn't she be getting regular meals there?"

Lena shrugged. "I agree. It is really strange that Bill seemed to have no idea of her existence. On top of that, if Jude knew where she was staying why wouldn't he have called her? He was obviously upset when he saw the girl. Did you hear what he said to her?"

Stef put her head in her hands. It was painfully obvious that the Callie had slipped through the system. Otherwise Jude would have just asked Stef to get Bill to find her instead of worrying what had happened to her.

"I'm not sure what to do here. Should we report her?" Lena asked.

"I think we should wait a bit," Stef answered. "There's no unringing that bell and we aren't sure exactly what the situation is. We should definitely keep a close eye on her though."

Lena nodded. "I just can't believe that Jude was keeping all of that bottled up inside. He seemed like he had adjusted so well while he was hiding this giant secret. He was carrying around such a big burden, I just wish we had realized something was up."

"I know, so do I," she agreed. "I think that they are really close. I was listening to them in the kitchen."

Lena smirked. "Oh Stef, you weren't!"

"I had to do something. I get the feeling that Callie has protected Jude a lot even if she hasn't lived with him. She didn't want him to worry about her at all. And look at her, she's obviously struggling."

I know," Lena agreed. "Let's go check on the other kids. The must have questions and I'd rather answer them now and not in front of Jude."

Stef followed her up the stairs. All three kids were in Brandon's room, whispering about something. Lena knocked and they all immediately froze.

Mariana was the first to recover. "Jude has a sister? Why didn't he tell us? Why didn't _you_ tell us?"

"We didn't know, sweetie," Lena answered. "And we're still not sure why Jude didn't say anything but we're going to talk to him about that later."

This time Jesus jumped in to ask questions. "But why did they get separated? Shouldn't they have both been placed here with us?"

"Yeah and did you see what she was wearing?" Mariana added.

"Mari," Stef interjected. "That's enough. And I'm not really sure what happened or why they were separated. All I know is that Callie is Jude's sister so I expect you to be nice to her."

All three nodded but Stef gave Mariana an extra long look.

"If they are so close then where has she been for five months?" Brandon asked.

"Again," Lena said, "we haven't had a chance to really talk with Callie yet so we aren't sure."

"Well I don't like the look of her," Mariana said. "And Jude was obviously crying out there on the porch. What kind of sister just disappears for five months or however long it's been since Jude has seen her?"

Stef sat down on the bed next to her daughter. "Honestly, what's going on between Jude and Callie isn't any of your business. You don't know the whole story and Callie was just as upset that she hasn't seen Jude in so long. How would you like it if someone was saying mean things about Jesus?"

"There wouldn't be a reason to because he never ditched me for five months."

Jesus put an arm around his sister. "You don't know the story, Mari. We've always been together so who knows what their situation is. I get that you're protective of Jude but you need to back off of Callie."

She just rolled her eyes in response. "Whatever."

Stef knew that was the best they were going to get tonight. "Okay well why don't you guys stay up here for a while and leave Jude and Callie alone. It's a pretty emotional time for them."

"Okay Mom, " Brandon said. "Not a problem."

The other two just nodded and Lena followed Stef out and into their room.

A couple of hours later Stef looked up from the book she had been trying to read. "We should probably have Jude get ready for bed. It is a school night."

"Yeah, It's is getting pretty late. I'll go down and talk to him," Lena agreed, giving Stef a quick kiss before heading downstairs.

She could hear Callie's voice. It sounded like it was coming form the living room.

"Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread until the patch of the Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure."

Lena took the pause to knock quietly on the doorway into the living room. Callie and Jude both looked up from the book that Callie had been reading.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but it's getting kind of late. I think it's time for Jude to head to bed."

Jude looked like he was about to protest but Callie answered for him. "Of course. We have school in the morning. I have practice and work right after for the next couple of days but I'll come by as soon as I can, okay?"

Jude buried his face into her shoulder again.

"Shh baby it's okay," Callie said. "I have my phone on me so you can call me if you need anything."

"Why don't you just spend the night? You can have the couch." The words were out of Lena's mouth before she had time to think about them. She hadn't discussed this with Stef but it was only one night. Looking at the siblings she couldn't bring herself to ask Callie to leave.

The girl looked taken aback. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Lena nodded. "I'm sure. I can go look for some pajamas you can use if you want."

"No, it's okay I have some stuff in the car. I'll go grab my backpack. Do you care if I take a shower?"

"That's fine," she said. "With so many people trying to take one in the morning it might be easier if you took one tonight."

Callie went out to get her things and Lena didn't miss that she hadn't called anyone for permission to sleep out. It was starting to seem more like Stef was right and there was something that Callie wasn't telling them.

She ushered Jude up the stairs, noticing that he was smiling. She didn't think she had seen him so happy besides the day they told him they wanted to adopt him. Having Callie around might boost his normally somber mood.

* * *

Jude really was happy. He had been carrying around so much guilt and uncertainty and to know that his sister was safe and staying the night was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He felt like he could breathe again.

He stopped at Mariana's room. He saw the way she reacted to Callie before and while he knew the girl was trying to protect him, he needed her to realize how important Callie was to him. He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer.

"Come in!"

"Hi," he said, sitting down in her bed next to her. "I wanted to talk to you about Callie."

"Oh my god!" Mariana exclaimed. "You too? I mean seriously I just got the talk from moms. I promise to try and be nice to her."

Jude looked over at her. "I hope you will because she's the one person who has always been there for me no matter what. She's my blood and even if we haven't always lived together she's given up a lot for me."

"Like what? Jude she hasn't seen you for months. What kind of sister just deserts her brother like that? You deserve better."

Now, Jude was starting to get angry. "You don't know what you're talking about. She didn't know where to find me or she would have come sooner. She's the one that got me away from Phil. I didn't know how to find her because she's off the books otherwise I would have just told her where I was and I wouldn't have spent the last five months worrying about if she was even alive or not."

He could practically see the wheels turning in Mariana's head. "What do you mean off the books? Isn't she living with a different foster family? Why didn't you ask Bill to track her down for you?"

"Mariana," he said, talking slowly so she would really pay attention. "I'm going to tell you something but you can't tell moms."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Okay, I promise I won't say a word."

"By off the book I mean she's out of the system. She literally ran away from anywhere they placed her so she could find me. Eventually they stopped looking I guess. I'm not even sure where she lives but I get the feeling it's nowhere permanent."

"Why don't you tell Mom or Mama?" She asked. "I get why you wouldn't tell say anything to your other foster parents but they would help you."

Jude shook his head. "I'm still not exactly sure what happened to Callie in the last house she was in but she is really serious about not going back in the system. Besides they could place her anywhere in the state so she could be sent hours away. She is trying to graduate early so she can get a full time job. Then she'll find someplace she can stay long term, like an apartment or something."

"So you have no idea where she lives?" Mariana asked.

Jude shrugged. "I think she stays with her friends. Usually a couple nights at one house and a couple in another. She gets by."

For once Mariana was silent. Jude wasn't sure what it meant but he was pretty sure she would lay off Callie. He knew that Mariana wasn't as cold as she seemed, it was just her coping mechanism. She had a big heart once you really got to know her. Jude also knew she could keep a secret. In the house she was probably the person he was the closest with and he was happy she was going to be his sister. But at the same time Callie was his blood and their shared history made her the most important person to him.

Mariana gave him a hug after a couple of minutes. "I think you better go get ready for bed. Mama was just in here telling me it was almost time for lights out."

Jude gave her a quick hug back and started to make his way toward the room he shared with Jesus when he heard Stef and Lena whisper arguing. It wasn't unusual for them to try and hide conversations from the kids they just didn't realize how bad they were at it. Even though they weren't using their voices, they were still plenty loud. He paused in the hallway to try and make out what was being said.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? We don't know anything about this girl!" That was Stef. Jude took another step closer to their bedroom, knowing now that they were talking about Callie.

"I don't know but you should have seen the her eyes, Stef. Neither one of them wanted her to leave."

He heard Stef sigh. "Well, it's only for a night. I probably would have done the same thing. It's just that you never seem to talk to me before making any big decisions."

They were quiet for a moment before Lena spoke. "I didn't think her sleeping on the couch for one night was that big of a decision. I mean, it is only for one night, right?"

They were silent after that and Jude guessed that Stef had nodded, ending the conversation. He tiptoed back to his room to put on his pajamas. He kept replaying what they had said in his head as he got ready and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Callie woke up early the next morning. The sun hadn't even begun to rise as she got up and started folding the blankets that Lena had given her the night before. She placed them in a neat pile in the middle of the couch.

She went into the kitchen and surveyed the area. She spotted a basket full of apples, quickly grabbing three and putting them in her backpack along with a few other snacks that she didn't think would be missed. After she zipped her bag she ripped out a piece of paper from the pad sitting on the shelf and wrote down her phone number to give to Jude.

She changed quietly and brushed her teeth before heading into Jude's room. She made sure to be as silent as possible so she wouldn't wake the other boy.

"Jude," she whispered, shaking him gently.

"What?" He asked sleepily.

"I have to go but I'll see you sometime at the end of the week, okay?"

This seemed to erase the sleep from his eyes. "You're leaving? But we haven't have breakfast or anything yet."

"I have to go but here's my number. I'm going to try and come back for a visit as soon as I can," she said, slipping him paper.

"Bye Callie," he whispered, giving her a hug. "Love you."

"I love you too," she answered back and let him lay back down. She watched him for a minute while he rolled over to get back to sleep and smiled. She had missed him so much.

She didn't really have any time to waste if she wanted to get out of the house before either of the women from the night before saw her. She had learned early that it was best not to overstay your welcome anywhere, especially the place Jude was staying. She said another silent goodbye before leaving the house, the door clicking shut behind her.


End file.
